1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vertical alignment device and method for a radar mounted on a vehicle and, more particularly, to a vertical alignment device and method for a vehicle radar, through which vertical alignment can be performed without a separate horizontal sensor.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, vehicle safety systems can be classified into anti-collision systems and accident prevention systems. Anti-collision systems can minimize influences of an accident, whereas accident prevention systems enable drivers to prevent potential accidents in advance. For this reason, accident prevention systems can be regarded as more effective vehicle safety systems than anti-collision systems.
An example of such an accident prevention system is a vehicle radar. A vehicle radar detects a distance from a preceding vehicle in front of a traveling vehicle and sends a signal to a driver when the traveling vehicle approaches the preceding vehicle within a predetermined distance, or detects a distance from an object in front of a bumper of a parking vehicle and sends a signal to a driver when the bumper approaches the object within a predetermined distance. Thereby, the vehicle radar enables the driver to pay attention so as to prevent a collision accident.
Meanwhile, in such a vehicle radar, it is essential to align a vertical angle to face an accurate forward direction. The alignment of the vertical angle is a process of changing an angle of an antenna surface of the vehicle radar in order to correctly adjust a misaligned direction of the vehicle radar which is caused by an error made in a manufacturing process and a vehicle mounting process.
Up to now, vertical angle alignment has been performed manually or automatically. However, manual vertical angle alignment is troublesome, and in automatic vertical angle alignment, a separate horizontal sensor is required to check whether the alignment is accurate.
An apparatus for installation and angle adjustment of a vehicle radar is disclosed in Korean Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2012-0025896, which has the same function with a reduced number of components, and thus simplifies a process using a structure that enables assembly, locking, angle adjustment with respect to a bracket and a single fitting without using a separate fitting for vertical angle alignment of the vehicle radar. The prior art document does not include the technical gist of the present invention.